Coils of the Serpent
by MadameMeow
Summary: What if, all those many years ago, when the Negaverse attacked the moon, the Princess and her court had been caught by the bad guys? Rated PG-13 for dark imagery.


Coils of the Serpent  
Prologue  
Madame Meow  
Rated:PG-13 (some swear words)  
  
Hey, it's me, Madame Meow, and I'm posting the   
prologue of a story I started a while ago. Enough response   
and I might finish it. Who knows, I might finish it even   
if I get no response. ^_^  
  
Okay, as to this story, it's another series, and I'm   
going to do the Japanese names, if I can get them right.   
All main guys are currently 18, first year University   
students, and the main girls are ageless. I hope this will   
make sense to you as the story progresses. Also, a lot of   
people who write stories incorporating Jadeite, Zoicite,   
Nephrite, and Kunzite, often portray their 'elements' as   
the same as their supposed lovers. I'm not going to mess   
with the typical pairings (gee, that doesn't give a lot of   
the story away, nooo. *hypnotizes you into forgetting you   
ever read that* You will not remember, you will not   
remember...), but I don't agree that their power should be   
the same for each pair. Example: Jadeite has fire power   
like Rei. I think that would be dangerous and unbalanced.   
I'll get more into their particular powers later, but I'm   
just explaining this now, so I don't get a whole lot of   
flames later, telling me that I got the men all wrong. I   
didn't, I'm just changing it. Okie? This is an Alternate   
reality, by the way.  
  
Umm does that take care of everything? I think so.   
I'll add anything I forgot later on, kay? And, as always,   
write when you're done reading. It's greatly appreciated,   
and really, it doesn't take more than ten seconds to write   
a line or two. Is that too much to ask, considering how   
much work authors but into these stories? I don't think   
so. But on to the story.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Beryl laughed gleefully as she thrust her foot-long   
black nails through Princess Serenity's delicate chest.   
After one agonized scream, Serenity fell limp, desperately   
trying to draw breath into punctured lungs. Beryl's   
slitted golden eyes stared insolently at the horrified   
Prince Endymion. "If I can't have you Prince, then no one   
can."  
  
Endymion couldn't tear his eyes away from his dying   
love. Around her wound, blood frothed up in crimson   
bubbles, before seeping across her frilly white ball gown,   
and her frail hands, clutched around Beryl's in a futile   
attempt to remove the intruding claws, spasmed hopelessly.   
Her lips, once so rosy and pink, were now pale and   
trembling. Silent tears flowed from her silver eyes, eyes   
that were locked on his, eyes that both begged him for   
release and warned him back. Tears streamed from his own   
ocean blue eyes, as he struggled to remove the marble   
pillar that had crushed his hips, rendering him helpless,   
pinned to the floor. Choking on his sobs, he croaked   
"Serenity..." His fist clenching on the floor, he attempted   
to probe the pillar with his Earth sense, but the Lunarian   
marble didn't respond to his touch. Cursing fate, the   
marble and the witch before him, he glared hatefully at   
Queen Beryl.  
  
Beryl pursed her lips playfully, her nails still   
imbedded within the drying Princess. "My handsome Prince,   
you still have a chance. Repent, and become my lover, and   
I will heal your wounds. I might even let her live..."  
  
Endymion gasped with revulsion mixed with painful   
hope. To spend eternity with this hag...but still, if she   
would spare Serenity...an agitated movement from the corner   
of his eye made him glance in Serenity's direction. She   
was shaking her head desperately, causing her torso to move   
and her blood, which had been oozing sluggishly to flow   
with renewed vigor. Seeing she had caught his attention   
she mouthed, "She lies. I am already dead..." Shutting his   
eyes tightly, he forced himself to see the truth of her   
words. There was no hope for Serenity, and by extension,   
for himself. There was no life for him without her. The   
most he could do was die with her. Opening his eyes with   
harsh determination, he looked straight at Beryl, and spat   
in her face. "Join with a snake such as you? Don't make   
me laugh."  
  
Hissing, Beryl's face twisted into a snarl. With a   
jerky movement, she roughly ripped her nails from   
Serenity's chest. Ignoring Endymion and Serenity's   
identical tortured cries, she gathered black energy in the   
palm of her hand. With a flick of her wrist, the ball of   
energy split into five, one encasing Serenity and hardening   
into a large multi-faceted dark crystal, and the other four   
zooming off into the palace, destination unknown. She   
turned back to the downed Prince. "So be it, Endymion.   
But mere death is far too good for this slut, and her   
entourage. Know that you have made her death ten million   
times harsher." With a wave of her hand, the crystal,   
along with Serenity and Endymion's heart, disappeared.  
  
With a scream that scraped the sides of his throat   
raw, Endymion lunged up against the marble, propping his   
body up with his arms. But without the force of his legs   
behind the thrust, the pillar didn't even shift. Laughing,   
Beryl sauntered across the remains of the porch, daintily   
lifting the hem of her dress away from large pieces of   
debris. Kneeling over him, she drew the tip of one blood   
stained nail along his jaw. "Tut tut Endymion, it's too   
late now. No matter how you plead, her fate is sealed.   
And even you," She traced the nail down his neck and across   
his black chest plate, leaving a delicate line of red,   
"attractive though you are, no longer have any choices left   
to you. I'll still have you, of course, but minus a few   
annoyances. Like your mind."  
  
Endymion was barely listening, his mind playing back   
her previous words. *Know that you have made her death ten   
million times harsher...ten million times harsher...harsher*   
Serenity, who cried when she cut her finger on a sheet of   
manuscript, would endure the tortures of the damned...because   
of him. His soul, already in tatters because of the recent   
events, threatened to tear apart completely at this. How   
could he, who loved her more than anyone, anything, have   
done this to her? He was her protector, her champion, and   
yet had sentenced her to a protracted and painful death by   
selfishly not sacrificing himself. And now, it was even   
too late to change the hag's mind. But...Queen Beryl   
couldn't torture her if Queen Beryl didn't go back to   
wherever she came from...His over-burdened mind grasped at   
that slender hope, and ran with it. Keeping his gaze fixed   
resolutely beyond Beryl's face, praying that she would not   
read his intentions in his eyes, he extended his Earth   
sense around him, carefully searching for something,   
anything that would come to his call. Avoiding all traces   
of dark energy, still listening to Beryl ramble in the   
background, Endymion was nearly at the end of his strength   
when his searching 'eye' encountered a sharp, twitted shaft   
that appeared as a shining gold to his Earth sense. *Of   
course, the gold fixtures from our trunks!* Calling the   
piece of bent Earth metal from his destroyed baggage   
trunks, *Now how did that happen...?* he wondered, to his   
hand, he waited until the he felt the smooth texture of the   
soon-to-be-stake in his right hand, then turned his face to   
Beryl. Interrupting her in mid-gloat, he whispered, "You   
will pay for the pain you have caused, Beryl. In HELL!"   
With the last word, he rammed the piece of gold trimming   
through her chest with all the force his upper body could   
provide. Exhausted and spent, he fell into   
unconsciousness, hoping never to awaken.  
  
Beryl gasped in shock as she felt a pain drive into   
her chest. Staring in outraged horror at the shaft of gold   
that dared violate her perfect body, she fell back from the   
prince. Clawing wildly at the twisted metal, she succeeded   
in slashing off the extruding pieces, but the twists in the   
gold had created weak spots that caused a large piece to   
break off and remain within her chest, saturated with her   
life's blood, which was pumping out of her body at an   
alarming rate. Having done nothing but make her wound   
worse, she called out desperately to the only being left   
that could save her. "Mistress, Queen Metallia, HELP ME!"  
  
Endymion jerked awake in surprise when a deep, hissing   
voice, like that of a basilisk*, spoke, coming from   
nowhere, and everywhere, resonating with every shadow, and   
tainting every patch of sunlight. "Beryl, your period of   
usefulnesssss hasss come to an end. Your obssssession with   
a mortal, and an enemy mortal at that, has been a   
hindrancssse every sssstep of the way. That you let your   
guard down enough to let ssssaid mortal fatally wound you   
only provessss it. You get nothing but which you   
desssserve. I don't need you now. You even provided me   
with a replacsssement. Farewell, Beryl, and good   
riddancssse." As the last of the words faded, nearby   
shadows quivered, then seeped down to the ground from   
wherever they had resided. Slithering from their posts,   
they pooled into a massive clot beneath Beryl, the   
shimmering, twisting puddle of darkness enough to make even   
Beryl queasy. She whimpered. "Please..." At the sound of   
her plea, the shadows twined together, and rearing up like   
a cobra, pounced. The resulting explosion thrust away   
everything within 20 meters. Endymion went flying, slammed   
into one of the few remaining upright pillars. His neck   
jerked back violently, and with a discernible 'crack' his   
body fell limp to the floor. Of Beryl, nothing was left   
but a fine, crimson mist.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Queen Serenity stared down at the corpse of her   
daughter's beloved, leaning heavily on the arm of her   
advisor, and best friend, Luna. The remains of all her   
dreams, all her achievements, lay scattered about his body.   
Look, there was Universal Unity lying cracked on the floor   
over there, and, oh, Justice For All was looking a bit   
tattered, sprawled across the stairway. Eternal Peace was   
definitely broken, well nigh irreparable. And now this...if   
he was dead, then...Queen Serenity clutched her friend's arm.   
"She's gone, isn't she. Either dead, or captive. And   
there's nothing we can do anymore. Our army defeated, down   
to the last man. My power depleted to the point where I   
almost had not enough strength to fake my death. Our   
glorious civilization, wiped out in an evening. And now,   
the light's brightest hope, extinguished by darkness. Oh   
my daughter..." Queen Serenity trembled violently, using the   
last of her will, the last of her sanity, to force herself   
onward. "Luna, I need a favor of you."  
  
Sensing the formality of the request, Luna let go of   
her Queen's arm, and knelt before her. "Anything, my   
liege."  
  
Queen Serenity lay a trembling hand upon her friend's   
forehead, a hand that looked old and frail, as if the   
destruction of her world had sucked the life from her. "I   
need you to wait. The Dark Forces have depleted themselves   
to conquer us, but one day they will rise again, to   
continue their path of destruction. They must not go   
unopposed. I will send our warriors forth into time, to be   
born again when the Dark threatens." Her right cheek   
twitched with suppressed emotion. "Though my daughter and   
court are missing, still yet the fight must go on. Will   
you go forth, and be a guide for the next incarnation of   
our warriors?"  
  
Luna's heart ached with the thought of the lonely eons   
to come. "Of course, my Queen. I will await the next   
incarnation. But...who will you send? As you said, Majesty,   
your daughter and court are gone."  
  
Queen Serenity turned to look at the crumpled body of   
Endymion, Prince of Earth. "We will work with what we   
have."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Metallia, Mistress of the Negaverse, spread her   
awareness throughout the chamber in which her brand new   
captives slept, naked within their floating crystal   
prisons, following the healing of their wounds. Formless   
though she was, through tendrils of dark energy, still she   
could see the shining web of spirit bonds between the five   
girls. Linked together, forever and always, a seamless arc   
of power, that was to surface examination, invulnerable.   
And yet, for all structures, there need be an anchor, a   
'key stone' upon which the stability of all the others   
depends. Subvert the keystone, and the others will   
crumble. It was just a matter of finding the keystone.   
  
If Metallia had had lips with which to smirk, she   
would have done so. Never had a keystone been so easy to   
find. Though all the girls were webbed together, each linked   
to the other, the bonds each held with the Moon Princess were   
by far the strongest, and most powerful. Therefore, the   
Moon Princess was the point at which she must start.   
  
Flooding a summons through her limbs of dark energy   
that flowed throughout her stronghold, she called the Shadows.   
Staring at Serenity's bright soul, she considered then sent   
out an additional summons for her latest 'pet'. Though it   
had cost her much in terms of energy to create it, it   
seemed she would soon have need of it.  
  
Soon, the chamber flooded with restless shadows,   
pools of darkness that seemed to suck the color out of   
whatever they lay on, as they slithered and writhed towards   
their ultimate master. Caressing them with her presence, she   
impatiently awaited the arrival of her pet. Moments later,   
through the roiling mass of gloom that grew ever thicker on   
the floor, a ripple quivered then flowed apart, making way   
for the creature that entered now. Long, narrow and   
sinuous, colored in a nauseatingly hypnotic pattern of   
putrid, deadish peach, and acidic green, a serpent flowed   
across the remaining space between it and the crystals   
lying on the floor. Attracted by the powerful white light   
that emanated from the imprisoned Moon Princess, the snake-  
like creature slithered around her crystal, circling her   
like a hawk preparing to strike it's prey. Metallia felt   
its impatience with satisfaction. Her voice, harsh and   
sibilant at the same time, rolled through the room, turning   
the shadows into a thrashing mass of excitement. The   
serpent didn't even pause.   
  
"Are you hungry, Miassssma? Does the Princesssss'ssss   
ssssoul look appetizsssing? A nicssse, shining heart sssspirit   
for you to conssssume. But you musssst be patient, Miassssma,   
for that ssssame heart sssspirit defendssss her well.   
Shadowssss, do assss you were ssssummoned for."  
  
As her last words resonated through the air, the   
teeming mass of shadows swarmed towards the snake-like   
Miasma, flowing over it, and attached themselves, layer   
upon layer, to his skin. When the last of the summoned   
shadows fell shuddering into place, Metallia melted away   
the crystal surrounding the unconscious Princess, and the   
serpent flowed forward. As the soul-sucker neared, the   
light softly shining from Serenity brightened, until the   
glow in the room was that of mid-day.   
  
Ignoring the mildly painful touch of the accursed   
light, Metallia watched avidly as the first outer layers of   
shadows dissolved in the light of the Princess's soul. Layer   
after layer was shed as the serpent moved forward, parallel to   
the Princess's body and towards her head.   
  
Though the shadows absorbed the light emitted from the   
girl, protecting the creature of darkness beneath them, they   
were dispersing faster than Metallia had anticipated. Cursing   
the need, Metallia wrapped her own dark flows protectively   
around the serpent, allowing it to continue forward as the last   
of the cloaking shadows fell away. As Miasma reared above the   
girl's head, Metallia tied off a last few dark flows around   
the creature, then relaxed away from it, to 'watch' the   
show.   
  
Miasma, hissing, dove into the girl's mouth. Metallia,   
looking at energy flows, watched as the dark soul sucker,   
burning away the last of its protections, started to swallow   
the girls shining soul. Twining throughout her body, the   
snake-creature consumed the light wherever it found it. When   
the last remnant of her pure soul was gone, Miasma pushed its   
narrow head through the small hole in her naval**. The serpent   
twined itself sinuously around the Princess's body, it's body   
trailing around her hips, then her stomach, around her back, up   
between her breasts, across her right shoulder, behind her neck,   
until the creature's head curved over her left shoulder and   
rested upon her collarbone, and still the serpent's tail had   
not yet emerged from the girl's body. Her bright soul shone   
faintly through the dark flesh of the soul sucker, but grew   
dormant as the dark energies holding it sent it into a   
restless sleep. With a dark flash, the satiated serpent   
sank into the girl's flesh, until all that remained was a   
sinuous outline stamped tattoo-like upon her previously   
flawless skin. Her soul was now entrapped within the snake   
for as long as it existed.   
  
Metallia cackled wildly, then proceeded to flood the   
girl's now soulless body with dark energy. The other four girls   
moaned simultaneously as dark energy rushed into their minds and   
hearts through the spirit bonds each bore. Soon, the dark   
energy had created a current that constantly circulated among   
the girls, renewing eternally the hold it had upon them. The   
planetary symbols that had previously shone brilliantly,   
faded, flickered, and eventually went out all together.  
  
Metallia relaxed at this sign of her success.   
Exhaustion roared through her mass, and she reached out to   
the shadows to replenish herself, before remembering that   
she had used up those too. She hissed slightly in   
frustration before shaking it off. It would take time,   
ages in fact, to renew the shadows of her stronghold, and   
her own energy was reduced significantly. To gain more,   
she would need to raise a new army to replace the one the   
Moon kingdom had almost destroyed, and her new Generals   
needed time for their bodies to adjust to the dark energy   
flowing through them.   
But one day, far in the future, the Negaverse would   
surge to the surface once more. And they would conquer.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
* There are a few different definitions of a basilisk, but   
in most cases, they are lizard-like creatures that stand  
on their hind feet, their stare has a petrifying effect, and   
they eat rocks.  
** You're belly button for the uninformed.  
  
Well, that's it. Man, it took a lot of effort to write   
that prologue. But did you like it? Cause it will all be   
worth it if you do. Send me a message to tell me what you   
think. You can reach me at Madame_Meow@hotmail.com. I'll   
be waiting!  



End file.
